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Les professeurs sont en grève.

Les professeurs sont en grève.
The teachers are on strike.
FromLesson 19inHardcore French

Breakdown of Les professeurs sont en grève.

être
to be
le professeur
the teacher
en grève
on strike

Questions & Answers about Les professeurs sont en grève.

Why is the expression être en grève used here instead of avoir grève?
In French, you don’t say avoir grève. To express “to be on strike,” you use the verb être plus en plus the noun grève. An alternative is faire grève, literally “to make strike,” which also means “to go on strike.”
What part of speech is grève, and what is the role of en in en grève?
Grève is a feminine noun (la grève). In être en grève, en is a preposition indicating a state or condition (“in strike”). It’s not an adjective—grève remains a noun here.
Why is the definite article les used before professeurs?
French typically uses the definite article with plural nouns when speaking about a specific or general group. Here, les professeurs means “the teachers” as a defined set of people (all the teachers involved).
How do you pronounce grève, and what does the accent grave indicate?
The accent grave on the è tells you to pronounce it as an open /ɛ/ (like the “e” in English “bet”). So grève is pronounced /ɡʁɛv/. Without the accent, you might mispronounce it as a closed /e/.
Is the final s in professeurs pronounced?
No, the final s is silent. You say /pʁɔ.fe.sœʁ/. There’s generally no liaison after professeurs, so you keep the s silent even before a vowel.
Do you make a liaison between sont and en? Should you pronounce the t in sont?
In formal or careful speech you can liaison: sont ends with a “t” that links to the vowel in en, giving /sɔ̃.t‿ɑ̃ ɡʁɛv/. In everyday conversation, many speakers drop that liaison and simply say /sɔ̃ ɑ̃ ɡʁɛv/.
How would you say “The teacher is on strike” for a single teacher?

Use the singular article and verb agreement:

  • Masculine: Le professeur est en grève.
  • Feminine: La professeure est en grève.
    (You’ll often still hear La professeur est en grève, but professeure is the explicitly feminine form.)
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“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).

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